Dear Friends,
I’d like to share with you an exciting development in the A Hole in the Roof Foundation, the charity I helped found this summer that raises money for faith groups that care for the homeless so they can repair the spaces in which they carry out their work.
As you know, I wrote about a downtown Detroit church in my new book, Have a Little Faith. It’s Pilgrim church, and for years it’s been operating with a gaping hole in its roof. The pastor, Henry Covington, has carried on with all the church’s services and I Am My Brother’s Keeper Ministries, and relied on huge plastic tarps to shelter the sanctuary and the homeless people who take refuge there. But nothing can keep out the rain, snow and – worse of all – the bone-chilling cold of a Michigan winter.
Click below to watch a special video announcement.
So I’m really pleased to announce today that we’ve hired a contractor to fix the roof and have raised enough money to get started. It’s not enough – we’ve got another $20,000 to go – but the contractor has committed to starting work, in good faith, at the end of this month. Best of all, he promises to meet our #1 goal: to complete the project by Christmas.
Now we’re ramping up our effort to raise the remaining funds – we’re calling it Shingle Bells – and I’m thrilled and humbled to say that the project is drawing support from every corner of our community. If you’d like to donate, please go here, and know that we’ll gratefully accept a donation of any size. Even a modest amount makes a difference:
• $7 will shingle one square foot of the roof
• $10 buys 2 pieces of 1 x 6 wood decking
• $15 covers almost half the cost of a box of roofing nails (we need 14 boxes!)
• $25 covers a roll of felt paper (we need 40 rolls!)
• $50 buys a pack of aluminum flashing (we need 16 packs!)
• $66 buys a 78 shingles – enough to shingle a 10 x 10 square area
If you’d like to keep up with all the developments, I’ll be updating everyone on the progress via Twitter and Facebook.
I hope you’ll help spread the word: to your reading group, your faith group, family, friends, co-workers and anyone who wants to help. Once we fix Henry’s roof we’ll start on other projects, because A Hole in the Roof Foundation is committed to helping faith groups of all denominations who help the homeless all over the country.
Please know that I am grateful and moved by any help you can give–in donations, in prayers, and in support.
Warmly,
Mitch
Mitch
0 Comments